“Kokkuri-san (コックリさん)” is a special type of Japanese fortune telling similar to what people in the West call “table-rapping.” It involves necromancy or summoning the spirits of the dead to answer questions.  In this case players summon an animal ghost (mainly fox) and ask it questions.  The ghost is supposed to answer questions by moving a coin across a sheet of paper that has numbers and alphabets on it.  “Gugure! Kokkuri-san ( 繰繰れ！コックリさん )” is a title of an anime.  In this story a little girl plays Kokkuri-san and ends up being possessed by ghosts.  It is very cute and funny, one of my favorites.

You can learn Japanese from me while we watch an anime like this one!

One type of firework that has been used in Japan since the Edo period is called “senkō sparkler”; probably the smallest sparkler in Japan.  In the Tokyo area, a senkō sparkler is made out of twisted Japanese paper (washi) with a small amount of gunpowder wrapped inside at one end.  Because it is made out of paper, a senkō sparkler is very fragile.  You have to stay very still after you light it, otherwise, the firework will break off from the paper and die.  Unlike the common image of fireworks, the senkō sparkler is tiny and fragile.  Yet many Japanese people love senkō sparklers precisely because of this uniqueness.

You can watch a video of senkō sparkler here.

Illustration from http://estar.jp/.pc/_ilst_view?w=22677509

In Japan we have snow cones just like the ones in the U.S; shaved ice and syrup .  We also have snow cones with ice cream and fruit on top, and we even have snow cones with sweet red beans and sticky rice cake on top called ” Ujikintoki (宇治金時)” .   Ujikintoki is usually a Matcha green tea ( 抹茶 ) flavored snow cone, often served with Matcha or vanilla ice cream.

“Ramune” is a carbonated soft drink that has been very popular for many decades in Japan.  It is well known for its unique bottle (invented in England in 1872) that seals itself using pressure from the carbon dioxide in the drink.  A glass marble is placed inside the bottle, so when the bottle is sealed, the marble is on the top, and you can open the bottle by pressing the marble down.  As you can see, the appearance of the bottle is beautiful and cool-looking especially for summer.

In the Japanese language, “Hyaku monogatari” literally means 100 stories. But these are not just any type of stories, they are scary ghost or demon stories.  Hyaku monogatari is a style of storytelling or story-sharing for a group of people.  You start with 100 candles lit, and blow one candle out each time someone finishes telling a story.  A ghost or demon is supposed to appear by the time all the candles are blown out.  I’ve never tried it myself; and I don’t know anyone who has.  Would you? 😉

The tradition of sharing scary ghost/demon stories in summer came about because people feel a chill when they are scared, so on hot humid summer nights we try to cool down by talking and listening scary ghost stories.  Therefore, hyaku monogatari is known as a summer activity.

Painting is from 百鬼夜行!「Ao」のイラスト

“Obon” is a Japanese observance honoring ancestors and friends that have passed away.  Obon is usually held August 13^th through 16^th, but some areas in Japan may hold it earlier.   We believe the spirits of the dead will visit us during obon and offer prayers for their peace.  Some people display eggplants and cucumbers, and they are called shōryō-uma (精霊馬).   The cucumber horse is to carry the spirits on their way to come here quickly and the eggplant cow is to carry them back slowly and leisurely.  We often burn small amount of hemp stalk, called mukae-bi (迎え火), on a tray on the 13^th to welcome spirits to our homes.  There are different obon ceremonies to send the spirits off on the 16^th depending on the area.  In Kyoto, they hold a ceremony called Daimonji yaki (大文字焼き) where they burn a big fire that is shaped like this: “大” on a mountainside.  In other places people celebrate tōrō nagashi (灯篭流し) which is a ceremony where they release floating lanterns into a river or ocean to bid the spirits good-by, and okuri-bi (送り火), is another ceremony of burning hemp stalk on a tray.

“Umi no ie” [literally “House of the Sea”] is a Japanese public bathhouse with a restaurant on the beach.  You can purchase food & drinks, take a shower, and even safely store your luggage here while you go swimming.  It costs about $5 ~ $15 to take a shower and check your bags.  An umi no ie is usually a temporary bathhouse only open in the summer; built right before the summer break starts and taken down once the season ends.

As you can see in the photo, Japanese people take off their shoes to enter an umi no ie.

The rainy season in Japan lasts about 4~6 weeks, and normally ends in June in Okinawa (South of Japan) and around July 20^th in Tokyo.  As soon as the rainy season ends it truly feels like summer; hot & humid.  All the beaches get really popular and remain crowded until the middle of August.

The rainy season is very important for rice.  A young rice plant takes in a lot of water, so rain is essential when rice seedlings are transplanted onto a rice field.  Good quality of healthy rice can grow with plenty of rain.

Sankayō is a name of a flower that lives in the mountain in Japan & Sakhalin Oblast.  It blooms from May through July.  The flower is normally white, but it turns clear like ice when it gets wet in the rain.  Its scientific name is Diphylleia Grayi, and there is no name in English.

Traditional Japanese scenes (shrines, temples, old style houses, streets, gardens etc.) look particularly lovely in the rain.  This is good because it rains often in Japan at certain times of year.  Tourists typically prefer to visit during the dry and sunny days, but I still enjoy cloudy skies, and the look and sound of rain on the glistening streets and buildings.

Traditional Japanese scenes (shrines, temples, old style houses, streets, gardens etc.) look particularly lovely in the rain.  This is good because it rains often in Japan at certain times of year.  Tourists typically prefer to visit during the dry and sunny days, but I still enjoy cloudy skies, and the look and sound of rain on the glistening streets and buildings.

From young to old, most people in Japan use an umbrella in even a light rain. There are lots of umbrella shops throughout Japan, and many different styles of colorful umbrellas.

In a section of Tokyo called Horikiri there is a famous garden of irises (堀切菖蒲園).   The flowers in this garden were pictured in ukiyo-e as one of One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (produced in 1857 by Hiroshige Utagawa).    We hold an iris festival there for about three weeks in June (during a rainy season).  You can see 200 different varieties of iris, or 6000 iris plants in this garden.

Teru Teru Bōzu is a doll made out of cloth or paper (I used to make it with tissue) to wish for a sunny day.  In the Japanese language “teru” means “(sun) shine” and “bōzu” means “boy”.  If you wish tomorrow to be a sunny day, you display your teru teru bōzu under the eaves upright.  Some people display it upside down to wish for rain.

Hydrangeas (紫陽花 / あじさい) & snails (かたつむり) are both familiar symbols of a rainy season for Japanese people.

Seiji Fujishiro is one of my favorite Japanese artists.  He is known for shadow play art.  There is a Seiji Fujishiro Museum in Tochigi (1.5 hours from Tokyo by train), Japan.  I have visited the museum, and I felt like I walked into a wonderful mystical space.

Kawaii Koi Nobori food to celebrate Children’s Day.

May 5^th is an official holiday in Japan called Children’s Day.  Often we raise carp-figure flags (こいのぼり – Koi Nobori) on the roof of the house to wish a child (or children)’s health and strength.  In a Chinese legend a carp that swam against upstream turned into a dragon, so we wish our children to be as strong as the carp.

Join this Scavenger Hunt & win a free 30-minute Skype session

Capture as many as possible of the following items on camera at the National Cherry Blossom Festival 2015 (the street festival) or at the specified location.  Please email your photos to mail@LearnJapan.co.  Please try to include enough background to show that you were at the festival.  You do not have to complete the entire list to win a free Skype session with Learn Japan.

1. キリンビール
2. Doraemon’s favorite food
3. Naruto’s favorite food
4. Paper craft bird that is traditional Japanese culture/activity
5. Music instrument that is related to Mr. Miyagi’s (the original Karate Kid’s Sensei’s) hometown.
6. Signboard/sign for a “シーヴィーエス” within 0.1 miles from the street festival

I will be at the Sakura Matsuri (the street festival) for the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington DC on Saturday, 4/11/15.  Please come out and join a scavenger hunt to win a free 30-minute Skype session with Learn Japan!

Details will be posted here at 11 am, 4/11/15.

It’s time for cherry blossoms again!!!

Although cherry blossoms are not a floral emblem of Japan officially, cherry blossoms are strongly associated with Japan and Japanese culture.

Photo: 2013年3月 - 壁紙ING管理人の写真ブログ

In Japan we go through fads of food, books, toys, fashion, etc.  Some of fads stay for a while, and some of them disappear after a few months.  Here are some examples.  

 Tom Yum Instant Noodle by Nissin Food became so popular in April 2014.  Demands were so high that supplier couldn’t catch up.  People were willing to pay 4 times as much.

 Another one was Beef Sukinabe by Yoshinoya Fast Food Chain Restaurant.  This sale started in December 2013 and they sold 14,000,000 orders before they temporarily stopped the sale in May 2014.

 As far as fashion, gingham check designed clothes were one of fads in 2014.

Plum wine is well-known in the U.S. as a popular drink in Japan and China.  If you can find fresh plums, plum wine is easy to make.  Just mix white liquor, fresh plums, and crystal sugar.  Seal the bottle tightly and wait for six months to a year.

Plum blossoms bloom in Japan from February through April.  The Blossoms are white, pink, and red.  Plums as fruits are also common in Japan; but we typically consume them as pickled plums, plum wine, or plum juice, rather than eating them straight.  The city of Mito is known for its plums and holds a plum blossom festival every year from the end of February (this year’s festival just started!) until the end of March.

Back in 2012, the city of Fukushima, located on Japan’s eastern coast, created an imaginary district called “Kawaii” (which means “cute”), and invited people from all over Japan to become honorary residents there.  Since the Kawaii district is imaginary, becoming a citizen there won’t officially prove your identity or get you a driver’s license; but it has been a good promotion for the Fukuoka’s food, fashion, and special events with a theme of cuteness.  As of February, 2015 over 40,000 people had applied to become residents of Kawaii.  [Click here to read more about Kawaii Fashion & Lifestyle.]

But if you want to join them you’d better hurry. The special promotion is scheduled to end in March, 2015.

Mariko Shinoda from idol group AKB48 was the first “mayor” of Kawaii district in 2012.

This kind of “kawaii” (please read more under the Kawaii Fashion & Lifestyle post) nabe ryōri, is called “Deco Nabe” coming from decoration of nabe ryōri.  I wonder if those cute guys start melting as they are getting cooked…

Ahh━━━━Σヾ(;ﾟДﾟ)ﾉ━━━━!!

A popular meal especially during winter in Japan is “Nabe” or “Nabe Ryōri.” To make this hot pot dish,  we usually place a small portable stove on the dinner table, and boil meat, fish, vegetables, and noodles all together in a pot of broth.  We serve the food as soon as it is cooked, and the family all eat it together.  There are many different kinds of Nabe depending on the type of broth and the varieties of meat, fish, vegetable and noodle that are used.

A traditional Japanese roof uses roof tiles that made out of clay.  Those are interlocking high-quality tiles and are used for castles, temples, regular houses, etc.  Depending on the coating and baking methods, tiles have different colors, but gray/silver ones are most common.

For “ikebana” arrangements, we use a round brass (there are plastic ones also) plate studded with sharp needles called a “kenzan” to hold each flower/plant stem in place.  A weak stem may be propped against, or tied to, a stronger one,  be wrapped with a leaf,  or even placed entirely inside a wider stem. 

Centuries ago (in the Kamakura-Edo period), Ninja served feudal lords or Daimyō as secret agents.  Unlike samurai warriors who were bound to fight fairly by a strict code of ethics, Ninja were trained to act as spies, commit sabotage, and carry out assassinations.  They had to go through hard training since they were little, and they were eligible to climb on walls, to become stealth mode and hide their existence, to keep balance and walk on a rope, to notice a tiny sound that normal people cannot hear, etc.